Program Website: http://www.eng.clemson.edu/bio/
Clemson University’s bioengineering program is one of the oldest in the world and began in 1963 with the approval of a Ph.D. program in bioengineering. An M.S. program was added in 1966, and Bioengineering became a separate division within the Graduate School in 1968. In 1978 departmental status was granted with the formation of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. This department was subsequently renamed the Department of Bioengineering in 1984. Historically, the department is widely recognized to have pioneered the field of Biomaterials.
At Clemson University, the Department of Bioengineering’s research emphases are biomaterials, biomechanics and cellular biology, particularly for orthopedic and cardiovascular applications. Course offerings and research projects lie in the following areas: cell biology and tissue engineering; the development of new implant materials; in vivo performance of biomaterials; the biological response to implanted biomaterials; biomechanics of tissue, implants, and the tissue/implant interface; wear and lubrication of joints; spinal mechanics; biomolecular simulation; visualization techniques; and CAD/CAM-based custom prostheses design.
Programs of Study
M.S. The curriculum for the Master of Science degree consists of a core of recommended bioengineering courses supplemented by elective courses that provide a student greater depth in his/her specific area of interest.
Two degree options are offered at the master’s degree level: a thesis and a non-thesis option. The thesis option requires a total of 30 credit hours (six of which must be research credits) and the submission and defense of a master’s thesis. The non-thesis option requires a minimum of 33 credit hours (six of which must be research credits) followed by the submission of a publishable-quality report on an approved topic. The minimum time period necessary to complete the Master’s Degree is normally 18 months, out of which at least one academic semester must be undertaken in residence as a full-time student at Clemson University.
Ph.D. Candidates applying to the bioengineering doctoral degree program must provide evidence of their potential success in advanced graduate study. The selection of courses for the doctoral degree is flexible and depends on the background and objectives of each candidate. A typical program includes a minimum of 18 semester hours of graduate level courses beyond the master’s degree requirements. Students interested in obtaining a doctoral degree should enroll directly into the doctoral program from their baccalaureate degree. A master’s degree is not required for application to the doctoral program. Qualifying and comprehensive examinations must be passed before a student is accepted officially as a Ph.D. candidate. The qualifying examination involves a written report, oral presentation and examination of the student’s understanding of the bioengineering literature related to their specific doctoral research project. The exam is administered by the student’s advising committee members and other appointed bioengineering faculty with an expertise related to the science and engineering topics addressed in the literature review. The Ph.D. degree in bioengineering can also be jointly conducted with an M.D. degree at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Facilities and Collaboratives
The University’s Biosystems Research complex, built in 2004, serves as a focal point for biotechnology research. The $24 million facility includes fully equipped laboratories for polymer synthesis and characterization, mechanical testing, histopathology, tribology, surface analysis, image analysis, cell culture, computer-aided analysis and design, and virtual reality. Other facilities available include animal surgery facilities and electron microscopy facilities with supporting staff and machine shops with support technicians.Among the laboratories available in the Department of Bioengineering are a mechanical testing laboratory (Instron 3120 and 8874, Vitrodyne V1000), biotribology laboratory (Instron-Stanmore knee simulators and unidirectional and multidirectional friction and wear testing systems), surface analysis laboratory (TOPO-3D and NT-2000, Wyko Corp.), histopathology laboratory (EXAKT System for hard tissue histology, Polycut E, grinders, polishers and soft tissue processing facilities) and additional laboratories for cell culture, tissue engineering, computer simulation and biomaterials evaluation. State-of-the-art equipment for material characterization (FTIR, XPS, SEM, TEM, DSC, DMA, NMR, FAME, etc.) are available in the Department of Bioengineering, the School of Textile, Fiber and Polymer Science, and the Materials Science and Engineering Program.
Collaboration with the Greenville Hospital System (GHS) and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) opens doors for clinically based bioengineering research. The Department of Bioengineering offers research support for the fellowship program in endovascular surgery at GHS. Enhanced teleconferencing capabilities allow students and researchers to participate in remote classes, grand rounds, clinical discussion and collaborative research. Faculty of the Department of Surgery are actively involved in classroom teaching on vascular engineering and pathology, biocompatibility and biomaterials implantology. Graduate students conduct clinical internships and research projects in clinical departments at both GHS and MUSC. This extensive collaboration format also exists with the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Numerous partnerships have also been established between the department and medical device and development companies. These partnerships involve short-term industrial internships and rotations, and on-site graduate research as formally established with Poly-Med Inc. (http://www.poly-med.com) and Smith & Nephew Inc. (http://www.smithnephew.com). Industrial partners also participate in the professional development of students through annual career panels and in-house workshops.
Financial Aid
A limited number of departmental assistantships are available. These assistantships carry a stipend of up to $15,000 a year for M.S. students and up to $18,000 a year for Ph.D. students. Additional opportunities are available for exceptional students to obtain University fellowships of up to $15,000 for twelve months over and above the regular departmental assistantship. Competitive graduate research assistantships are also provided by individual faculty members to Ph.D. students for designated faculty research programs.
The program has approximately 78 graduate students, approximately 52 percent of whom are Ph.D. students. Thirty-six percent are women, 95 percent attend full time and 22 percent are international students.
Student Outcomes
About one-third of the students completing an M.S. degree go on to work toward a Ph.D. degree. After completion of an M.S. degree, recent graduates of the program have also obtained employment as research/project engineers in the medical device industry, federal research laboratories, or academic laboratories. After completion of the Ph.D. degree, students go on to upper-level research positions in the medical device industry or to postdoctoral or faculty positions in academia.
Faculty Listing
- Ted A. Bateman, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Colorado at Boulder, Aerospace engineering. Research interests include disuse osteoporosis and molecular therapies, SCI/nerve damage-induced bone loss, biomineralization/biomechanics, and spaceflight pre-clinical disease models.
- Thomas Boland, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Washington (Seattle), Chemical engineering. Research interests include atomic force microscopy, protein and cell printing, organ printing and biointerfaces.
- Karen J. L. Burg, Hunter Endowed Chair and Professor; Ph.D., Clem-son, Bioengineering. Research interests include absorbable polymers and tissue engineering. Dr. Burg is the recipient of the Department of Defense Era of Hope Award (2004) and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2002).
- Zhi Gao, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Miami (Florida), Cardiovascular biomechanics. Research interests include laser interactions with cells and tissues; cell micropatterning; digital image processing in cell morphology and migration analysis; adult stem cell engineering, particularly for building tissue constructs; electrophysiological and biomechanical analysis of cell-cell interactions.
- Sarah W. Harcum, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Maryland, Chemical engineering. Research interests include recombinant protein manufacturing using both experimental methods and models to improve production, concentrating on stress induced proteases in recombinant Escherichia coli, glycosylation heterogeneity due to bioprocess conditions produced in mammalian cells, and metabolic engineering of E. coli.
- Martine LaBerge, Professor and Department Chair; Ph.D., Montreal, Biomedical engineering. Research interests include the tribological evaluation and characterization of natural and artifi cial surfaces used in the design of implants for orthopedic and vascular applications, especially boundary lubrication and elastohydrodynamic lubrication targeted through the design of alternative bearing surfaces.
- Robert A. Latour Jr., Professor; Ph.D., Pennsylvania, Bioengineering. Research interests include implant biomaterials and biomechanics, computational chemistry-based biomolecular modeling, and thermodynamics of protein-surface and protein-cell interactions.
- Jiro Nagatomi, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Rensselaer, Biomedical engineering. Research interests include mechanotransduction, biomechanics of cells and tissues.
- Anand Ramamurthi, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Oklahoma State, Chemical engineering. Research interests include cardiac and vascular tissue engineering, ECM-derived cardiovascular biomaterials, hyalauronan-based biopolymers, cell-matrix interactions, blood-material interactions, and nitric oxide delivery systems.
- Dan Simionescu, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Bucharest (Romania). Research interests include biocompatibility and tissue regeneration, non-surgical treatment of cardiovascular diseases, minimally invasive targeted local therapies, regenerative therapies for pediatric patients, tissue-derived biomaterials.
- Alexey Vertegel, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State (Russia). Research interests include nanoscale biomediccal devices, smart materials, protein immobilization on surfaces.
- Narendra R. Vyavahare, Hunter Endowed Chair and Professor; Ph.D., Pune (India), Chemistry. Research interests include cardiovascular implants, synthetic and biopolymers as biomaterials, drug/gene site-specific delivery, and cell-ECM interactions.
- Charles K. Webb, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Utah, Bioengineering. Research interests include tissue engineering, wound healing, and cell-surface interactions.
- Xuejun Wen, Assistant Professor, M.D.; Ph.D., Utah. Biomaterials and tissue engineering. Research interests include biomaterials, cellular engineering, and tissue engineering with emphasis on human tissue regeneration.
- Hay Yao, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Miami (Florida), Biomedical engineering. Research interests include soft tissue biomechanics.
Faculty members look for applicants who have excellent academic records and educational backgrounds, research experience, motivation for graduate education, inquisitiveness and an appreciation of interdisciplinary research. Applicants may apply on the Web at http://www.grad.clemson.edu/Admission.php. Applications, with a $55 nonrefundable fee, should be received no later than five weeks prior to registration. Every required item in support of the application must be on file by that date. Students are advised to contact the department for the deadlines of the program of proposed study.
For More Information
Dr. Robert Latour
Graduate Student Coordinator
Department of Bioengineering
501 Rhodes Engineering
Research Center Clemson University
Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Telephone: 864-656-5552
Fax: 864-656-4466
E-mail: latourr@clemson.edu
Cathy F. Godfrey
Student Services Program Coordinator
Department of Bioengineering
Telephone: 864-656-7276
Fax: 864-656-4466
E-mail: gcathy@clemson.edu
